Monday, May 7, 2012

French socialist François Hollande won France’s presidential election on Sunday, with thousands of his supporters rallying across the country to celebrate the left’s return to the Elysée Palace after almost two decades out of office.

France’s Interior Ministry said the left-wing candidate had claimed around 51.7% of the runoff vote to incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy’s 48.3%, with turnout at 81%.

In a victory speech in the central town of Tulles, where he once served as mayor, Hollande said he would be a president for all French people. “We are not a France divided, we are one single France, all united in the same destiny,” he told his supporters.